Three men convicted of terror bomb plot

The group were openly critical of the 7/7 bombers for not killing enough people because they had not packed their bombs with nails and shrapnel.

IrfanNaseer, 31, Irfan Khalid, 27, and Ashik Ali, 27, all from Birmingham, were convicted of planning the attack that would have created mass casualties.

They were "central figures" in an Islamic extremist plot to set off up to eight rucksack bombs and possibly other devices on timers in crowded areas.

Police believe it was the most significant terror plot to be uncovered since the 2006 conspiracy to blow up transatlantic airliners using bombs disguised as soft drinks.

Cops said the men had the means, the will and the know-how to carry out mass murder in what detectives say could have been the biggest terror attack on the British mainland "in a generation".

The men tried to raise money through bogus charity collections but ended up losing thousands playing foreign currency markets and had to apply for loans.

They duped the local Birmingham charity Muslim Aid and a mosque into believing they were collecting charity funds on their behalf but returned only a fraction of the money donated to those causes, spending the rest on the bomb plot - buying a car and transferring money into their own bank accounts.

No precise targets were discussed by the three men but the attack would have involved "eight exploding rucksacks in crowded places", while Ali hinted in a police interview that soldiers might have been the target - while later claiming he made this up.

It is also unclear when the attack was planned, although the group made references to "five months, a year, and two years", said Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Adam Gough.

The group were openly critical of the 7/7 bombers for not killing enough people because they had not packed their bombs with nails and shrapnel, according to the police.

Khalid and Naseer twice visited terrorist training camps in Pakistan between 2009 and 2011, where police believe they were schooled in bomb-making, poisons and firearms training.